


fish in the sea

by ivelostmyspectacles



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Established Relationship, Fluff, Inspired by Fanart, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 11:08:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13925880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivelostmyspectacles/pseuds/ivelostmyspectacles
Summary: Prying eyes can't follow them underwater.aka established ignoct mer au!Based on fanart by ruebird!





	fish in the sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rueruerue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rueruerue/gifts).



> Up next is **ruebird** , who picked her [**mer au which you can find right here!**](http://ruebird.tumblr.com/post/161148721404/some-mer-ignocts-because-i-have-no-self-control)check it out (before reading, if you want a lil context!)

_nothing is softer or more flexible than water yet nothing can resist it - lao tzu_

 

There is only a small chance that Noctis slips away from the hotel unnoticed, and it is rendered forlorn as he hears the resigned, mildly amused tone as it calls up to him from the hill he’s climbing. For a moment, he thinks of bolting, as if it’ll do him any good, but he doesn’t want to deal with wet leather again so he doesn’t. He glances back over his shoulder instead, flashing a mischievous look back as Ignis follows him up. “Caught me.”

“You weren’t being as sly as you thought.” He lengthens his stride, catching up to Noct in a few quick steps. “Dare I even ask?”

“Nah.” He tugs his jacket off. “You’re used to it by now.” Ignis makes a resigned noise. Noct doesn’t know if its in reply to the statement or the fact that he tugs his shirt off next. When he goes for the button on his pants, Ignis steps up next to him, back to him and arms crossed. “You don’t need to _shield_ me, Specs.”

“Well, seeing as how you’re inclined to undress _in the middle of public…”_

“Public?” He splutters. He wouldn’t undress in public. He doesn’t quite possess that state of self-confidence after the attack. “It’s pitch black and we’re in the middle of nowhere. There’s no one watching. Even if they were they wouldn’t see anything.”

“So you’ve managed to convince me…”

“My virtue is safe.” Fully naked now, he turns to press flush against Ignis’s backside, wind his arms around his waist. “Well, mostly,” he says, quietly, and nips at Ignis’s clothed shoulder. “Ditch the clothes and come in. You know you want to.”

Ignis’s breathing is carefully measured, but he’s _tense_. Noct had felt that shiver crawl through him, and it’s definitely not cold out. “… right.” He plucks his glasses from his face and slides them into his pocket. “Priorities, though, Noct.”

He pulls away. “I know.” He turns to the water awaiting them and breathes deeply. Salt and brine and fish. He nearly _trembles._ “I’m going on ahead.”

This time, Ignis’s noise is definitely one of protest, but Noctis doesn’t pay him mind. They’ve been away from an open body of water too long and _that_ temptation is too great. So he gets a running start on the hilltop and dives off into the water waiting below, leaving Ignis half undressed and calling his name after.

No matter. It’s not like he’s _going_ anywhere.

Water has always felt like home. In both the way that the Citadel did, that Ignis did as well, and Noct easily parts the dark water, bubbles trailing the stroke of his tail as he pushes onward. Walking was so much more clumsier. Two legs. Please. He’ll take his fins and tail any time. Although he’ll be the first to admit how _irritating_ taking a shower can be with their little transformations.

He doesn’t yet have need to break the surface of the water but he does anyway, poking his head out just enough to call up to Ignis. “Can you see me?!”

“Of _course_ I can!” comes the exasperated, fond response, and Noctis slaps his tail against the surface of the water– soft colors of blue and green and pink visible without the haze of water and he hears Ignis laugh from above. “Noct, _please,_ you’re already glowing, stay away from the surface.”

He worries too much for their safety. Still, Noctis relents, tucking his arms to his sides and diving down. It’s not like he glows _that_ brightly, and he likes the bioluminescence. Although the very first time they had met Prompto and Gladio, Prompto had been so _‘freaked out’_ by the way that his eyes looked that he’d fallen right off the cruiser and screamed the whole few feet to the surface of the water. He hadn’t known whether to be annoyed or amused; either way, an ice breaker and now when they vacationed nearby they came to visit.

Apparently Noct’s one of the only mer that actually _can_ glow. He’s always a bit of an outlier that way, he guesses. The glowing, and his fins are too… _fragile_. He’d thought he’d never swim again after the attack when he was young, but they had healed, slowly and painfully. The blowout hadn’t been as bad as it had looked, but the delicate ends had been shredded and taken a long while to heal. Swimming had _hurt_ for that long while.

Sometimes it still does, even now, but he hasn’t let that deter him since he was, like, eleven or twelve and he’s sure as hell not going to let it hinder him now.

A splash to his right and he swivels around lazily as Ignis swims into view, all pale skin and tan fins and leopard spots. He’s more traditional, not surprisingly, but also… kind of like a shark, Noct guesses. He doesn’t think about it too much. He knows he’s beautiful, and Ignis had told him _he’s_ beautiful, and he just wants to go diving so he doesn’t let himself linger if he’s not having a bad day.

“Took you long enough.”

“I don’t just throw my clothes on the ground like a heathen.”

His laughter bubbles out around him; he leans forward to brush his fingers down Ignis’s sides and kiss him briefly. “You love me.”

 _“Do_ I?” Ignis asks, raised eyebrows lost beneath the splay of his bangs over his forehead. The corners of his mouth are upturned, and Noct breathes out a pleased sigh.

“You do.” He passes his fingertips against Ignis’s gills and wiggles his fins in happiness when Ignis sweeps a piece of his hair out of his face with a careful pass of a lengthened nail. _“Gods_ , I’ve missed this.” Not only the water, the freedom, but _Ignis_ , when the facade they have to keep up on land makes him ache to close the distance between them. He leans forward now, briefly resting his forehead against Ignis’s.

Ignis sighs– Noct can feel the rush of water through gills, moving beneath his careful touch– and turns his face to nuzzle just so at his cheek. “Likewise.”

They stay like that for a moment, afloat in the star dappled water, the cool water and the press of cool scales and the warmth of their bodies and _silence._ Eerie, beautiful, deep silence. Noct disgustingly thinks it feels like they’re the only two things there. He knows it’s not true and it’s too grossly romantic and he doesn’t say it, but Ignis’s eyes are soft and bright as he pulls away and looks at him, and he thinks he knows what he’s thinking, anyway.

“Shall we explore then, Noct?”

He wants to linger, pressed close to him in this form, but they’ll have time for that later. They’ll have to dry out before heading back to town, after all.

He gives a sharp-toothed grin and pulls away, sliding his hand down to tangle his fingers with Ignis’s. “C’mon, Leopard Spots.”

Ignis’s amusement is a mess of spluttered bubbles and a swat of his tail against Noctis’s. He takes off like a shot for whatever awaits them in the depths, and Noct smiles, and swims after him.

**Author's Note:**

> I can safely say I've never written or had any plan to write mer au - ah remember my inclination towards vampires - so this has been a challenge! I've been obsessively researching mermaids the past couple days LOL hopefully it's true enough to what seems to be the common kind of, accepted thing... in mer au? or? well? it's a version of a mer au??
> 
> god I hope this isn't _terrible xD_ /punts it down and flees


End file.
